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“We will integrate two completely new Q‑models into the existing production network and will thus increase our competitiveness in an extremely important segment,” stated Audi’s Board of Management Member for Production and Logistics, Prof. Dr. Hubert Waltl.

With the Audi Q8, the brand will open up a new segment for its top-end models. The premium SUV in a coupe style combines great spaciousness with emotive design and offers the latest technologies in assistance and infotainment systems. Audi will produce the model in Bratislava as of 2018. The Audi Q7 has already been produced at the Slovakian plant since 2005. Meanwhile, the second generation of the large SUV is in production there, as an S version and as the Q7 e-tron plug-in hybrid.

In 2019, production of the Audi Q4 will start at Audi Hungaria in Győr. With this model, the brand is entering the segment of compact utility vehicles (CUVs). The very sporty Audi Q4 with its typical coupe-style silhouette will be positioned between the Audi Q3 and Q5. And as of 2018, Audi Hungaria will also be responsible for production of the Audi Q3 compact SUV, which until then will continue to be produced in Martorell, Spain.

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Historic first victory: Two Audi drivers won the first race of the new Blancpain GT Series Asia in Malaysia. Starting from pole, Mitch Gilbert and Aditya Patel prevailed in the first race in Sepang. They shared an Audi R8 LMS from the OD Racing team. In the second race they finished second in front of the Audi R8 LMS from Audi Hong Kong, in which Marchy Lee and Shaun Thong shared a cockpit. Gilbert/Patel lead by 13 points after of the first of six race weekends.

Three victories in Hockenheim: The DMV GTC opener was a complete success for the Audi drivers. Aust Motorsport won both individual races in the Audi R8 LMS with local hero Markus Pommer from Neckarsulm. The third place finishes of “Ronny C’Rock” from Team Land-Motorsport in the first race and Tommy Tulpe in the second round completed the podium haul. In the Dunlop 60 competition at the same race weekend, an Audi team also prevailed with the driver duo Tommy Tulpe/Fabian Plentz from HCB-Rutronik Racing.

Steven McLaughlan, in an Audi R8 LMS ultra, took the series lead in the Australian GT Trophy after the first of five events. The Australian won the first round in Sandown and Rod Salmon in an Audi R8 LMS ultra won the second race in front of Rob Smith in another Audi. Salmon is thus second in the table.

Nico Müller/Marcel Fässler/Robin Frijns were on the podium in the second weekend of the VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring. In the Audi R8 LMS of the Audi Sport Team WRT, they took third after four hours of racing time, beaten to first by only 7.4 seconds.

Racing for a good cause: The HCB-Rutronik Racing team will contest the new season of the DMV GTC and Dunlop 60 series with a strikingly liveried Audi R8 LMS in 2017. The “Distribution Art Car” combines art, electronics and motorsport for a good cause. The photos of individual donors as well as the logos of 22 companies involved in the electronics sector are the basis for a special racing car design. Thomas Rudel’s team donated the proceeds of the design campaign to the German Federal Association for Children with Heart Disease. In addition, 25 children with heart disease will experience the races at the Hockenheimring and the Nürburgring live on site, whilst being given a look round the pits as well as a chance to sit in an example of the Audi R8 LMS.

The great eight: This year, eight international Audi Sport drivers are taking part in various GT3 programs. Christopher Haase (D), Rahel Frey (CH), Robin Frijns (NL), Pierre Kaffer (D), Kelvin van der Linde (ZA), Christopher Mies (D), Frank Stippler (D) and Markus Winkelhock (D) will this year compete in customer racing around the world. The two former Le Mans winners and Audi factory drivers Marcel Fässler (CH) and Benoît Tréluyer (F) will also be racing regularly in the Audi R8 LMS this year. They will receive support from four other drivers: the DTM drivers Jamie Green (GB), Nico Müller (CH), René Rast (D) and Mike Rockenfeller (D) also compete sporadically in GT racing.

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The “Pit View” is one of numerous new features announced at a press conference held in Hockenheim on Thursday on the occasion of the final tests before the season opener on May 6/7. The pit roof will be opened for the spectators at most of the DTM events as well. Also new will be a public pit stop practice, plus a dedicated Fan Village in the paddock featuring a program of shows, exhibitions and food trucks.

“These are exciting times for the DTM,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dieter Gass. “With the Pit View we’re offering fans at the venues an opportunity to gain completely new insights by peeking behind the scenes. We intend to make motorsport even more spectacular and are bringing new cars with more power, a throatier sound and less downforce to the field for this purpose. The tires degrade faster, are no longer preheated and make even greater demands on the drivers than before. During the pit stops with fewer mechanics, every mistake will be immediately visible. The format is identical for all 18 races. I’m very much looking forward to the new season.”

Simulations of the new pit stop were part of the test schedule of the three Audi Sport Teams, Abt Sportsline, Phoenix and Rosberg, at Hockenheim as well. However, gathering as much data and information as possible about the new Audi RS 5 DTM with different setup variants and the new tires on the three and a half test days was even more important. The fastest lap within the Audi squad was driven by Mike Rockenfeller in the Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM on Thursday when the test conditions were best due to cooler track temperatures. Clocked at 1m 30.559s, he beat the existing DTM track record at the Hockenheimring by more than 1.6 seconds.

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The lightweight design experts at Audi long ago abandoned the fixation on using a single material in lightweight design. With a mix of aluminum, steel, magnesium and carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) they are establishing a new stage in multi-material construction in the Audi Space Frame (ASF) for the next generation of the Audi A8 – in keeping with the principle “the right material in the right place and in the right amount.”

Audi consistently applies new material technologies and designs that directly benefit the customer – and not only in terms of weight. The upcoming flagship’s torsional rigidity – the critical parameter for precise handling and pleasing acoustics – surpasses the excellent values of its predecessor by a factor of about one fourth.

Innovative production process – the carbon rear panel in the new Audi A8In terms of its overall dimensions, an ultra-high-strength, torsionally rigid rear panel made of CFRP is the largest component in the occupant cell of the new Audi A8, and it contributes 33 percent to the torsional rigidity of the total vehicle. To optimally absorb longitudinal and transverse loads as well as shearing force, between six and 19 fiber layers are placed one on top of the other, ensuring a load-optimized layout. These individual fiber layers consist of tapes

50 millimeters (2.0 in) wide and can be placed individually in a finished layered package, with any desired fiber angle and minimal trimming of the fibers. The innovative direct-fiber layering process specially developed for this purpose makes it possible to entirely dispense with the normally needed intermediary step of manufacturing entire sheets. Using another newly developed process, the layered package is wetted with epoxide resin and sets within minutes.

A high-strength combination of hot-formed steel components make up the occupant cell, which comprises the lower section of the front bulkhead, the side sills, the B-pillars and the front section of the roof line. Some of these sheet metal blanks are produced in varying thicknesses using tailoring technologies – meaning they are customized – and others also undergo partial heat treatment. That reduces weight and increases the strength, especially in areas of the vehicle that are particularly critical for safety.

The aluminum components make up 58 percent of the new Audi A8 body, the largest share in the mix of materials. Cast nodes, extruded profiles and sheets are the elements characteristic of the ASF design. And here too the competition of materials has been driving progress. New heat-treated, ultra-high-strength cast alloys attain a tensile strength of over 230 MPa (megapascals). The corresponding yield strength in the tensile test is over 180 MPa, and for the profile alloys it is higher than 280, i.e. 320 MPa – significantly higher values than seen previously.

Rounding out the intelligent mix of materials is the magnesium strut brace. A comparison with the predecessor model shows that it contributes a 28-percent weight savings. Aluminum bolts secure the connection to the strut tower domes, making them a guarantor of the body’s high torsional rigidity. In the event of a frontal collision, the forces generated are distributed to three impact buffers in the front end.

Benefits for customers and the environment – the new body shop for the Audi A8.In addition to the complete redevelopment of the Audi Space Frame for the next generation A8, the production halls at the Neckarsulm location were specially built for the upcoming flagship. A total of 14,400 metric tons of steel were needed just for construction of the new, 41-meter-high body shop, twice as much steel as was used for the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

The highly complex yet energy-efficient production operation uses 14 different joining processes, including roller hemming at the front and rear door cutouts. This mechanical, “cold” technology is used to join the aluminum side wall frame to the hot-formed, ultra-strong steel sheets at the B-pillar, roof line and sills. The engineers thus realized improvements of up to 36 millimeters (1.4 in) at the door cutouts compared to the predecessor model. That in turn makes getting in and out of the car even more comfortable and widens the driver’s field of vision around the A-pillar, an area that is key to safe driving.

As for the “warm” joining processes, Audi stands alone among the premium automakers by virtue of its development of remote laser welding for use with aluminum. Exact positioning of the laser beam in relation to the welding edge considerably reduces the risk of hot cracking during the production process. The new process makes it possible to precisely control the penetration depth of the laser by means of the heat input. In this way, process control can immediately determine the gap width between parts being joined, and this can effectively be closed using regulating controls. The laser beam’s high feed rate and low energy use reduce the CO2 emissions of this production step by about one fourth.

This new process also results in a 95 percent savings on recurring costs in series production because it eliminates the need for costly process controls required with conventional laser welding. The remote laser welding technology perfectly symbolizes the entire production of the new Audi A8.

In 1994 it was the first generation of this luxury sedan, with its aluminum unitary body, that made the Audi Space Frame an established presence in the automotive world. Since then the company has built more than one million production cars in accordance with this design principle, and it has been continually building upon its know-how in the use of materials and joining techniques.